Brave

Family and Friends! This week has been filled with great news. To begin, Monday, after Internet we went to lunch with President and Hermana Zobrist as a zone and then all the trainers went back up to Arequipa with President and Hermana Zobrist. It was a fun car ride up. I was filled with so many feelings. I was nervous, scared, and excited to train. That night we had the training meeting in the mission home. Hermana Riverin and I were both super nervous to be training. Its crazy how far we've come. It felt as if we were companions in the CCM just starting the mission just a few months ago! At first we were both nervous but after the meeting we were pumped and ready to be the best trainers we could be! That night I was blessed to be able to sleep in Graficos, my first area! I got to see Hermana Ogden and the family who I stayed with for the first 5 months of the mission! The next day we went and visited the bishops family and Hermana Deby. It was so great to see them all again! Then we went to a stake center in Arequipa to meet our NEW companions! They started the meeting with all of in the room and went over the basics of the mission then we all at lunch. After lunch is when the excitement began. At this point we had no idea who our companions would be! They divided us up into two groups, the trainers and the new missionaries. They called the new missionaries up first and had them put their backs to us then told them where they were going to go, then called up the trainers after to stand behind their back. When everyone that was in the same area got called they had the new missionaries turn around to see their new companions. It was so fun waiting behind my new companion and then having her turn around to see her great excitement to be together and her excitement to work hard! I just loved it so much. My new companion is Hermana Bourque! In mission turns she's my daughter! Since this is her first area and Im her first companion and training her, Im her mom in the mission. Hermana Bourque is from Washington and 20 yrs old. She has a SUPER good attitude, which is the thing I love about her most. Starting the mission is super hard but I know she will have a much easier time since she has a great attitude and well of course because I am her companion! haha jk chiste! She's great. I just hope and pray that I can help her have the best first 3 months that she can have! Its been an added responsibility to be the companion in charge and the one that speaks Spanish for the both of us. Thanks to this I have been growing a lot more and I can feel the Lord blessing me and helping me. Especially with the language. I can also see my companions growth as well just in these past few days. We made a goal to read the Book of Mormon together by the end of training. Which means 8 pages everyday. So far its been really good and I hope to continue on in this goal and see our Spanish improve more and more everyday! Together we have been working really diligently and eficazmente....efficiently haha We went out with 3 members this week and were able to meet more people and also get to know the area better as a companionship. I love how my companion is so brave and willing to speak. She just speaks the best she can and then Im here to help her if she needs it, but she is super brave. This week we had seen the blessings of our diligence. We went to pick up one of our investigators to go to church yesterday but she wasn't able to come. At Zone Conference this week with President Zobrist, he taught us that when someone says no it doesn't mean no, it just means that they need more information! So we applied this with Karina, our investigator, she said she would come later but the good news is that we ran into her brother. It was the first time we had ever met him but with this advice from President Zobrist we kept giving him more information about church and the blessings that will come when we go to church and also that he could only come for an hour to see what he thinks and we gave him more information until YES he came! This is never heard of! The first time meeting someone and having them come to church with us! It's a blessing to see the Lord help us out after we give it our all. We don't know who is prepared and ready for the gospel but we just continue to work hard and then the Lord will put those people in our paths. Another blessing this week. One of our investigators, Nicole, 13 years old. She is from a family of all members of the church who are less active but are returning to come to church. She is our best investigator. She came to church Thursday for me to teach her piano and then after we taught her a little bit about faith. After the lesson we gave her the pamphlet of the gospel of Jesus Christ to read before our next lesson on Saturday. When we came on Saturday she was all prepared and ready! She read the whole pamphlet! We asked her what she liked about it and then she went on to say that she liked baptism. We taught a little more about the covenant to baptism and how it's a blessing to get baptized. She ended up telling us she wanted to get baptized! The date isn't set but we told her that we are here to help her prepare for her desire to get baptized. YAY!! We will be seeing lots of success here in Moquegua! I look forward to these next few months that I have with Hermana Bourque! Love always, Hermana Flora

I'm Legal!

Family and Friends!! I am officially legal! Yayy!! Went to Lima Sunday night and was there doing paper work all day Monday so now I have the chance to write all of you! The secret to life is Faith in God and gratitude. This is the key to happiness. If we know that everything will work out if we are obedient and are thankful for what the Lord has given us, there is no doubt that we will be happy. This week I have found joy in the little things. My joy has come in teaching this beautiful message we have with the people here. What a great blessing we have to know this gospel. At times I don't know if we truly realize how great we have it. I look at the people around me, rushing to and from, waking up, going to work, eating, returning home, going to bed, and repeating this all over again the next day. How sad would it be to think that this was the only purpose to life. Work, eat, sleep, and repeat. There has to be more than that. Thankful to this gospel we know that there is. This life will move faster than we can imagine. Our purpose isn't just to live and die. We are suppose to live and prove ourselves to the Lord. We are in training for a better life. We need to prepare for the judgement that will come upon us after this life. Thankful to Jesus Christ we can be saved. All He asks of us is to come unto Him and we will be saved. He gave us SO much and asks for SO little. With this knowledge we need to give Him our gratitude by coming unto Christ. Everyone can come closer unto Christ. We just need to have Faith, Repent of our sins and all our wrong doings, Be baptized by His authority, and Endure to the end! This week was kind of crazy. I went to Lima Sunday afternoon to do my paperwork on Monday. I got back to my area Tuesday morning and only had 24 more hours with my companion before she left. Its so sad to see her go but its exciting to be with her during her last moments in the mission. We had a super good last week together. We have new investigators and the work is moving slowly but surely here in Moqugua! This Sunday we have our grand music recital for the Stake. The missionaries from Ilo are coming up to our area and we are having a big choir, special musical numbers, and talks. It will be an awesome night. We are inviting investigators, members, and basically everyone! I look forward to it! I am playing the piano for parts of it and singing as well. I look forward to seeing how it goes. My companion left this morning to go to Arequipa and have there conferences before going home. Im sad to see her leave me :( but this is just a new chapter in my life! I am now just waiting the arrival of my new companion next Tuesday! I Cant Wait! Enjoy what you have. You never know what you have until its gone. Hot showers. Heavenly. Thank you for your love and support! Love always, Hermanita Florita

Family and Friends!! I would be the last to believe it, but I now actually LIKE the rice dessert. What? haha Its called Arroz con leche. I was oddly craving it for 2 days this week and during one family home evening with some members they served it to us and I had never been so excited for the rice dessert. Miracles do happen. haha Big news from the week. We had Zone Conference and have been working a lot with getting people to better understand the Atonement. From Neil L Andersen's words to us last week, we are putting his words into action and teaching a lot more about the Atonement of Jesus Christ. It is so true that if everyone truly understood the Atonement they would do absolutely do anything. There would be no excesses, just actions! This week we have gone to the Family Salinas house to read the scriptures with them everyday. The family is recent converts as of April and the dad has desires to get baptized. They have 4 kids. Carlos is the oldest at 14, then Karla at 11, Angel around 9, the last Danielle at 6. We are hoping that they will be getting married either this week or the next! He needs to get married before he gets baptized, so right after the wedding he will have his baptism! The sun is super strong here and it gets hotter and hotter by the day. My companion, Hermana Chamorro has been teaching me more the area and having me meet more recent converts, less actives, and members. The area is HUGE so I just get a little worried since this is my last week with Hna Chamorro and then she leaves, she finishes the mission in just one short week. Crazy! Then after that I will have a fresh new missionary and will train! Im nervous but I know I will be learning and growing a lot in this time. I will be trusting in the Lord A TON. Pray for me! This Sunday was another highlight. We had a training meeting with all the leaders in the ward and taught them about Ward Counsel, and the forms that they should be using in their organizations. It went really well because apparently before the ward wasn't doing much to help and in the whole month of August there was NO ward counsel. I hope this training will help them move to actions. There are some members that were super motivated and helping others get excited to help. We will be following up on them so they can keep this excitement and also continue on with their responsibilities. It will be nice to receive help from the ward! The missionary life is going great! Theres the good days, the alright days, and the amazing days! Thankfully there are more good days than bad. When there are bad days its only because I am thinking selfishly. I when I start complaining to myself about things such as the heat or other things, I just think of the people around me and this usually helps me forget myself and go to work, as Presidents Hinckley's dad told him while he was on the mission. Also, my testimony just keeps growing and growing and my knowledge of the church and the scriptures is expanding. What an amazing experience this is to serve a mission. Thank you for your support and love! Love always, Hermana Flora

Change

Family and Friends!! This week has been filled with much excitement and change. This Tuesday we recieved a call from the Zone Leaders and found out that we had emergency transfers and I will be leaving Arequipa to another area. I didn't believe it at first but yes it is true. I am now in Moquegua! At first I was bummed because I had only 2 days to prepare to leave and then I was gone. I didn't get the opportunity to prepare for the change or say bye to everyone. The reason we had changes was because there were 3 sisters that finished the mission in the middle of the transfer so President had to make some changes in other areas. When we were talking to President Tuesday night we asked him why he was going to change us and he told me that I am going to a new area to get ready to TRAIN! My companion right now is finishing her mission in 3 weeks and then I will be training. He told me I have 3 weeks to get to know the area before I train. OH MY! This is big news. I was excited about this news but also a little overwhelmed. I felt better about the emergency transfers because I knew it was for a good reason. I would rather leave now and have time to prepare than go to a new area with a new companion and train. That is just wayyy to stressful. Soooo I am now in Moquegua, which is 4 hours south of Arequipa. My new ward is San Antonio. My new comp is Hermana Chamorro! Moquegua is a desert. Its pretty hot and humid. Moquegua is surrounded by mountains and everywhere is covered in dirt. Here is more like how I pictured Peru. Theres not much greenery here but its pretty in its own way. My new companion is almost done with her mission, only 16 more days. Hermana Chamorro is super sweet and so nice. She is very humble and also funny. We get along really well. I am still getting to know her but I can tell that I will enjoy these next weeks with her. I want to have her enjoy the rest of her mission that she has! She's 23 years old and is from the Central part of Peru. She's sincere and easy going. Im happy to have this time to get to know her. This Thursday we had the big conference with Neil L Andersen. WOW! It was incredible. Being in the presence of an apostle is unexplainable. I learned 2 big concepts from him that I will apply in the mission and in my life. The first is the Atonement. He taught us saying that our investigators need to understand the Atonement. If everyone understand the Atonement then everyone would have a change in their hearts to do whatever in needed for the Lord. If only everyone could have this change in their heart or this knowledge of the Atonement. We need to help the people understand the Atonement and have this grand change in their hearts. This is our role as missionaries. The second concept that I really liked was when he was talking about honesty. The bases of spirituality is honesty. If we want the spirit we HAVE to be honest. To me, this was obvious. I feel like I don't have problems with being honest but then when he compared it with our investigators it really hit me. He said that if our investigators aren't being honest with us then how can they expect the Lord to help them feel the spirit. This hit me because there are SO MANY people that tell us one thing but do another. So many tell us they will go to church and don't come. So many tell us they will do something but don't REALLY have the desire in their hearts. This is something we need to change. I like this because I want to help others be honest. Honesty is such a good quality to have. I want people to be honest with us and not tell us they will do something if they don't have the intentions to do so. From this I want to help others realize the importance of honesty and of the Atonement. The last thing I learned was that the gift of tongues is real. Neil L Anderson spoke to us in SPANISH. He knows French and Portuguese but said he only knew a little bit of Spanish. He said he would speak as much as he could in Spanish and have the translator help him if he needed help. Well, he spoke the WHOLE HOUR without the translator. OH MY. I was so impressed and wished I could have this great gift as well. He has a lot of humility and diligence to just try and speak a language he doesn't completely know in front of a group of people. Wow. I was impressed. He spoke sooo well. He is definitely a prophet of God. In his testimony to us he told us that prayer is a blessing and is something muy grande that we have here on earth, then said that we are all children of God, and that he KNOWS that the Savior lives. I love hearing the apostles say this. I also know that the Savior, Jesus Christ, lives and loves everyone of us. I am thankful for what He did for us, for our salvation and for our happiness. We would be lost without Him. I am thankful to have this time to serve as a missionary for Him. Thank you for all the love and support! Love always, Hermana Flora xoxo

Preparations

Family and Friends!! This week was a week of contacting. On Tuesday during district meeting we talked about contacting people on the street. I have never been good at contacting and never liked it. My district leader read us a scripture in D/C, It was Section 60 verse 2 and 3. It says, But with some I am not well pleased, for they will not open their mouths, but they hide the talent which I have given unto them, because of the fear of man. Wo unto such, for mine anger is kindled against them. And it shall come to pass, if they are not more faithful until me, it shall be taken away, even that which they have. This scripture burned a little. It was exactly what I needed. I didn't like contacting on the street but after we read this scripture my whole attitude chaged and now I have been contacting like a crazy woman! And now I like it! It's pretty fun. People are nicer than I thought and it has made us happier because we are sharing the gospel more! On a normal week we have about 3 contacts per week, which is really sad. This week we had 61 contacts! We are working hard on imrpoving our contacting skills, opening our mouths and using the talents that God has given us. It has made the week better, I know it. This week we have been preparing a musical number for when Neil L Andersen comes THIS thursday! I'm so excited! Wednesday we had a womens conference with all the sisters in Arequipa. It turned out to be pretty good! Funny highlight of the day. While we were at the mission home, President Zobrist was talking and joking around with Carol, the bishops wife in our ward, about how we were troublemaker missionaries and saying how we just cause trouble. Then Adreano, Carol's son, the 3 yr old boy, hit president in the leg and said MALO! Bad! He's bad! hahaha we were dying laughing and had to reassure him that President was only joking. It was just a joke. It was super cute to see our little friend protect us against President haha I was dying laughing so hard haha At the womans conference we learned that we need to be more united as missionaries, especially between the girls. Apparently there is a lot of problems between the cultures and when we are all together we need to speak Spanish instead of English so everyone feels included. We also did a fun activity where we wrote our testimonies on a piece of paper and tied them to balloons then got another hermanas testimony, took the balloons to our areas and let them go for someone to find them. It was an awesome activity. Highlight of the day on Thursday. We went to the Visiting Teaching Training for our ward, Graficos. The leader got up and was speaking about how the sisters need to have sincere love for the sisters they go and visit. Then she looked at me and said, This is why I love to see Hermana Flora, because she is always smiling and happy. It was super sweet to hear, especially because I don't know her that well and I haven't had many experienes to talk with her so I felt good knowing that I have an impact on people that I don't even realize. I got the letters from the family that they wrote at family camp! There was a pile of 15 letters! I was so happy to read each and everyone of your letters! Thank you so much, it made my day! Letters really are the best thing. We made goals with the bishop this week to improve the ward and the ward council, since it's been slacking. We have already seen the improvements! This Sunday we had more people at Ward Council and the new way to run ward council was much smoother and more successful! Poco a poco. WE GOT A BAPTISMAL DATE! One of our new investigators that is a refernce from Hermana Lady and Marjory accepted a date to get baptized. This was on Dads birthday! What a great present for us. It has been awhile since we've had an investigator with a baptismal date. I love baptisms so much because we get to see people literally coming unto Christ and literally changing their lives. What great joy. Her name is Iessa and she is 13 years old. She had talked with missioanries before but apparently never came to church because missioanries never came to get her to go to church. Well, that's okay because we are here and we will come get her! This lesson was the best lesson Hermana Ogden and I have had in awhile. We were both feeling the spirit so strong. We were in perfect unity and teaching by design of the Spirit. Lessons like these are THE BEST! If only we could have every lesson like this. It was so good. Also, we got permission from our other investigator, Enzo! He had been out of town for 4 weeks and just got back, but last we heard was that his mom said no to baptism. We were super bummed since his parents live far away, in another mission, and have no way to talk to her and teach her what we know. Welllll....when Enzo came back, his mom was with him! NO WAY! So we had a Noche de Hogar with him, his mom, and Noelia, the member that he lives with, and Hermana Deby and her husband. We taught the mom about our purpose here on earth and about the form of baptism that we do. Well, by the end of the lesson, she gave us permission that if Enzo knows with assurety that the church is true then she will sign the papers! Yeaaa! We assured her that this was our goal too! Sunday. Our other investigator, Nicole, ended up coming to church with her aunt, Amparo. YEAH!! After sacrament meeting, we introduced her to Marjory and Nachme, 2 young women around her age. We sent her off with them to go to the Young Women classes. We checked on her after the second hour and everything looked like it was going well. By the end of church they were just talking, getting each others numbers and having a good time together. THANK YOU YOUNG WOMEN! This is such a blessing! I just loved seeing Nicoles face and how happy she felt to have more friends and to feel wanted. When we found her she had a fight with one of her best friends who said lots of mean things to her so we both knew that she had been feeling lonely for awhile so it was good to see her happy face! Just another good week here in Arequipa Peru! Hope as is well at home! Love always, Hermana Flora xoxo

Arequipa Day!

Family and Friends!! Happy Birthday Donny! Big 21...is that real? I don't believe it. haha crazy! This week was filled with some good work here in Graficos. One day this week we went out with two young women in the ward and did divisions. We ended up getting some good references since some of our appointments fell through. It was fun going out with the Young Women. The one I went out with is Marjory. She was asking me about the mission and how I decided to go on a mission. She is thinking of going on a mission as well but her parents want her to finish college first. We shall see what happens. I loved seeing her excitement with the work and how willing she is to help us. If only we started going out with her sooner! At least we know now haha We had a zone meeting with all the missionaries in Arequipa city. Its always good to hear from President and to see Hermana Zobrist. Our CCM group was together for the first time since the mission, all we are missing is Hubert! It was so good to see the other hermanas. This week on Friday was Dia de Arequipa! Arequipa Day! 474 years of Arequipas birth. There was a parade that went through the city. As a zone we met up and then went contacting around the parade. What a cool experience. We saw an entrance to the parade with an officer standing by the entrance. And I just decided to see if we could get in just to look at the parade so I entered. The police officer said nothing to me so my comp and 4 other elders in our district followed. One of the benefits of being white in Peru, they just assume we have no idea what were doing. haha Anyways we were walking in the parade! We had little cards with Jesus and with the Salt Lake City temple on it so we started walking in the parade and passing the cards out to people sitting and watching. I have never had people beg me for things of the church ever in my life. If someone didn't get a card they were dramatically waving their arms at us saying that they didn't get one. Wow. If only thats what people did to get into the baptismal font. haha After that experience we escaped from the parade when we ran out of cards and pamphlets and started contacting and talking to those on the street. It was a fun experience. By the end of the night we were DEAD. We were walking allll day in the sun. We crashed at the end of the night. Happy Arequipa Day! Saturday started off pretty well. We went to a Young Womans and Mens activity for our ward, got a cake for Hna Lady's birthday and celebrated her birthday with her for a little. Later at night we went to visit Ruso, Juan, and Ines, the Condori Family with Hna Ladys husband, Wilfredo. We had a Family Home Evening with them. Started off with reading a scripture in the Bible saying to Suffer the little children to come unto me...something along those lines of not stopping the children to come unto Christ. Well, long story short. Juan got really offended and told us that he knew where we were going with this scripture and he stands where he stands about letting Ruso get baptized. He wants to wait until he gets better and then Ruso will get baptized. The pride kills. We were both bummed about this news. Ruso has been ready for baptism for about 6 years. Its just sad that the only thing holding him back is his parents signature. We fasted Saturday night and Sunday for Ruso and the family. We are going to put our faith in God and pray for Him to help us. Tuesday we have a lesson with him and we will come EXTRA prepared, with inspired questions, a game plan of how we can get through to Juan with a humble heart. We want to offend him again but I feel like we just need to tell him how it is. How can you do that without offended someone? Well, we are counting on the help of the Spirit. Please pray for Ruso and for the heart of Juan to be softened. Thank you for your love and support! Happy Birthday to Dad this Saturday on the 23rd! Hope Dad and Donny both have wonderful birthdays! Love you both! Love always, Hermana Flora xoxo

Family and Friends!! This week was transfer week. I was worried this whole week because I didnt know what was going to happen. I was either leaving to Tacna or staying with Hermana Ogden and I really wanted to stay with Hermana Ogden. We find out transfers Saturday night. The highlights of the week. The Choque family, the Condori family progress, and the Pioneer walk with the Stake. First, the Choque family is a family of converts. The last one out of the family to get baptized was Francisco, which is the dad that Hermana Bazan and I were able to see get baptized. I never realized how great of an impact I had on the family. I guess I just underestimate myself at times. But anyways, it was a blessing to the beautiful notes that they wrote me this week because we didnt know if I was staying or leaving this week. They thanked me for my service and for the work that Hermana Bazan and I did for their family and how they will never forget about me. They told me that I better not forget about them. I was just really touched by all that they wrote me. Also, Francisco travels a lot so we dont have the opportunity to talk to him very much. Thursday we called him to just ask when he will come back to town. When he realized it was Hermana Flora on the phone his tone of voice changed and was filled with so much joy. I was so surprised to think he would be so happy to hear from us! He told us he is coming back this Tuesday and wants to get an interview to get the priesthood! I just feel blessed to have the opportunity to get to know the Choque family and hopefully be able to see them go to the temple in one year! They are the strongest family that we have taught. They still have a long way to go since they have their weaknesses, as we all do, but I hope to see them progress more in my life. The Condori family. Juan and Ines. This week was the last week to turn in papers in order to get married here in Arequipa for FREE. In order for the family to progress Juan and Ines need to get married. Juan says he wants to get baptized and Ruso, 15, also wants to get baptized. We have had so many good lessons with them and they have been the best progressing investigators that I have ever had. Well on the last day for the papers we came back to see the final final decision. Ines wanted to get married before but Juan had always put it off. She told us that she wants to wait until he gets more things in line and in order before she marries him. Its also a little bit rushed for them both. How many years have you two been together? 16 years. This was a huge crush on me. We read scriptures about keeping the commandments and the blessings that will come both temporally and spiritually. But they were more concerned about other things. Sad. Sad. Sad. On this day I had never felt so much sorrow in my life. I know the blessings that they will recieve. I know the happiness they could have. Why cant they just listen and do what is right. We came back to the apartment and I just cried. How come people just dont understand? Its just so easy if we keep the commandments and obey. Why wont people just do it? During this experience, I would like to say that I was able to experience just a tiny piece of what our Savior Jesus Christ must feel every day. There are so many people in the world that know the gospel but choose to reject it and choose wickedness over righteousness. They put the things of the world at a greater importance than the things of God. How sad. I felt this sadness that day. This makes me want to be a better person because I dont want Jesus Christ to ever be disappointed in me. I know I will not be perfect but I want to try my best. The pioneer walk. It was an awesome Stake activity. We dressed up as pioneers and had the carts as the pioneers and walked from Independencia to PorVenir, which was about 5 or so miles. Up and down hills. We walked for 2 hours. They put us into our wards and we walked together as a stake. I really liked the activity because we were able to bond more as a ward and we got to get to know the members better. As we were walking all through the town we got many stares from the people and people wondering what in the world we were doing haha We passed out flyers of the history of the pioneers to all the people we passed on the street. What a great idea of contacting! The spirit was really strong through the activity. Everyone enjoyed the activity and had just a small little piece of how the pioneers felt. Well Saturday night came as slowly as ever. I didnt know if I was staying in Graficos or leaving. Elder Wells called and told me that I was off the Tacna. I was a little bummed since I wanted another change with Hermana Ogden but I know all is in the will of the Lord. We were both a little bummed. Then an hour and a half later Elder Wells called again and asked if I was packing and I by then I knew he was playing a joke on me. I am staying in Graficos for one more transfer with Hermana Ogden! Yaayyy!! I am so happy! I was so mad but he was getting me back for all the jokes I pulled on them. Sadly Elder Wells is leaving Selva Alegre. He has been my Zone Leader since the time Ive gotten here on the mission. But my new zone leaders are Elder Meza and Elder Murdock. It will be fun! I look forward to having this last 6 weeks here in Graficos. We have a lot to look forward to in the work. Hopefully Ruso will get baptized this week! We had more attendence this week and are 2 people away from reaching our goal of 100 members in the sacrament meeting! Also we had 3 different less actives come to church today! We have a lot of blessings coming our way these next few weeks! Keep barrio Graficos in your prayers! I hope all is well at home and everyone is healthy and reading their scriptures and going to church! Keep doing the good work and remember to share the gospel with your friends! Love always, Hermana Flora xoxo